


Episode 16 - Mission of Mercy

by stgjr



Series: "The Power of a Name" Series 2 - "Time Lord Triumphant" [19]
Category: Chrono Trigger, Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-18 22:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10626111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: The TARDIS brings our narrator and Katherine to the Kingdom of Truce... right as it is being invaded by the legions of Porre!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on September 14th, 2014.

It was Katherine's 22nd Birthday. At least on the calendar.

They seemed to go by so fast. Even accounting for the days and weeks we would travel between her stays home. Sometimes I'd be a day or two off.... okay, a month at one point, I forgot to carry the three... but for the most part I returned her within hours of taking her away. This difference in the time she spent away with me and the time of her home meant that Katherine was understandably older than her birthday indicated. Given our many travels and adventures, she was actually twenty-four and a half today.

Unlike the prior year I did not come by for the function proper. My birthday gift would come afterward, as I had found a sunny little garden planet that acted as a floral species depository for a galactic civilization (None that you lot would know of). I knew she'd love it.

She opened the door to the TARDIS and carried in bags. Today she was in a Commonwealth-colored suit, mixing the orange of House Davion with the blue of House Steiner. Very patriotic design, yes, and she looked swell in it.

There was a new addition to her wardrobe today. A single pendant with a beautiful amethyst stone set into it. I waited for her to put her bags down and look up. "Nice necklace. Some presumptive suitor, I presume?"

"Yes. Honestly I can't keep track of all the gifts I get offered by the bachelors of the Commonwealth," Katherine said. She looked at me and a confused expression came across her face. "Why are you in a bathrobe?"

"Bathrobe?" I looked down at where I was covered in a soft purple robe with gold glitter trim and some stars and crescent moons grafted on at points. "Oh, right. It's not a bathrobe." I reached above the TARDIS and pulled something down, which I set on my head.

"And that's a pointed hat with your fez on the point," Katherine said, still befuddled.

"Yes. Oh, yes, sorry, my wizard robes." I smiled. "I was at the Unseen University for a Hogswatch banquet, had to look the part. I can actually wear a nice purple suit as a wizard without confusing people about whether I'm going to start gassing people with toxic laughing gas."

"Ah." The confusion went away. "So that explains why your pointed hat has 'Doctor' in golden lettering above the brim?"

"Yes. I got a very nice deal on the embroidery by a nice young seamstress, er, _needlewoman_ trained by the wonderful Ms. Battye herself." I put the hats back up above the TARDIS control. "While you settle your things in I'll be in my wardrobe."

Katherine nodded and walked on. I couldn't help but look back at the necklace again. It was beautifully-faceted, a treasure, and my favorite color to boot. What wasn't to like?

As I headed to the wardrobe to get into a fresh suit, I let my mind wander a bit. Katherine would undoubtedly start to come under pressure to marry a reliable man and produce heirs, since her older brother was clearly holding out on a political miracle to marry the woman he loved. The pressure might not be too bad, since she had three younger siblings, but it could be there. Or they might try to rope her into a marriage for political purposes.

And when that happened... she would not be able to travel with me. Not as much as we do now. I would be alone...

These thoughts rattled in my head as I found her waiting for me in the control room. I was back in my usual suit - for those who've forgotten, I look good with navy blue suit jacket and trousers, blue dress shirt, and light blue suit vest with green running shoes - and it fit rather well. Still no ties, of course. "Well, off we go to the flower nursery planet of Guotar!"

"An entire world devoted to growing flowers?", she asked.

"Sure. And then the Kraknaradaaplikuiuspinocka Nebula."

Katherine's face twisted. "Kraknardaaplikuius.... what?"

"Kraknaradaaplikuiuspinocka," I repeated flawlessly. "Say that five times fast." I winked. "Beautiful nebula, all sorts of earthy colors. You can see it from the open plains of Kraknardaaplikuiuspinralakoolis' main continent. I'd say the species' name for themselves but it's four times the length of Kraknaradaaplikuiuspinocka and far too much of a bother." I finished shifting switches around and had the TARDIS ready. "And then maybe the Lapaga Plains of Terlari. The Terlari Dorei throw marvelous parties..."

"I just had one," Katherine laughed, reminding me.

"Oh, not parties like Terlari, though," I replied, winking. "Alright, let's go. Happy birthday, Katherine. Tally ho!"

I pulled back on the TARDIS control lever. _VWORP VWORP VWORP_. With a spring to my step I dashed up to the door and threw it open. "Guotar here we.... Oi, watch where you're pointing that thing!"

An armored man, human, was holding a sword toward me. I whipped out the sonic disruptor in time to use it to parry a swipe. I acted like I was going to swing it to prompt the man to pull his blade back in self defense, at which point I hit him with a blast of Setting 21 that gave him a nasty bloody headache, enough that he fell over. "That'll teach you to point sharp objects at guests!", I bellowed.

"Doctor, look!"

Katherine's shout made me look around at our unexpected settings. It was, as you might suspect, not a floral nursery planet.

All around us was the sight of a city under what is colloquially called a sack. Desperate citizens fled, desperate defenders tried to fight off numerous attackers, and houses around us were already on fire. "Definitely not a flower planet," I muttered to her. I looked back down at my attacker. He had been using a sword, yes.... but I could see what looked to be a firearm slung over his back. And there was an insignia on his blue combat uniform. "A black chimera on a red.... _Oh bugger_." I raised my eyes and found what I knew would be there, on a nearby flagpole. Another flag.

Red on the left, gold on the right, and a black dragon with wings fully extended side-by-side and a tail that went down and across along the banner.

Well... I suppose this was it. I knew from an early adventure of mine with Jan and Cami, right after I'd given Jan her lightsaber, that I'd be getting mixed up in this event. I had hoped it would be even further down my timestream though, and not at all with Katherine.

"Where are we, Doctor?", Katherine asked.

"The City of Truce," I answered. "This is the Fall of Guardia."

 

 

People were screaming and fleeing from the approaching Porre soldiers, clad in blue combat suits with breastplates and graves and helmets. Each man had a sword and what looked like a flintlock or musket. It was rather bizarre to think of this world as being modern in some ways - modern refridgerators and stove sfoves for instance - and maybe late 18th century in firearms. Then again, having a world hegemon and four centuries of peace undoubtedly had its effects.

"Doctor, we have to do something," Katherine said. "Can't we stop this?"

"Fixed Point in time," I answered. "At least the sack is. I can't stop that." I hefted the sonic disruptor. "But that doesn't mean we do nothing. Get in the TARDIS, Katherine, and be ready. I'll bring survivors to you."

"I want to help," she insisted.

"And you will be by making sure people can get to shelter. Stay with the TARDIS. Use the monitor to see who comes to the door and let the refugees in."

Katherine sighed and nodded. "Very well." She stepped inside and closed the door.

The smoke was growing thicker as the victorious Porre troopers lit houses on fire in a rush of violent frenzy. I had no idea what provoked such behavior from them. I _did_ know who was responsible....

A line of Porre soldiers were running up toward me, guns loaded and readying. I glared at them and lifted my sonic disruptor, set to 42. Their weapons fired and bullets smashed against the protective field. Robbed of their kinetic energy and smashed against the field, they plinked to the stones below our feet. "I'm on a mission of mercy today, gentlemen," I announced. "You get one chance to run and _keep running_."

They stared at me in shock. But the sergeant or lieutenant or whomever reacted with an order to reload. I had considered setting 21. Just a brief burst of cranial pain and lights out. But I could see the blood on their swords and armor and knew what they'd been doing. I wasn't in the mood to be merciful to them.

So it was setting 4 instead. At full power.

The impact moved across the line like they had been struck by a truck. Men flew screaming into walls or onto the ground with enough force to crack bones. Some lost consciousness from the sheer force of the blast. The others moaned and moved about on the ground.

"You lot are lucky I didn't use a thermal pulse strong enough to ignite your gunpowder," I growled.

The crowds of people fleeing for their lives kept going. Clearly my actions weren't that interesting. Given the direction they were heading toward Leene Square, which I suppose was a decent dedoubt, especially if they could get to the canyon reaches.

I went door to door, urging everyone to get out. In the inn I found a Porre soldier chasing a young lady up the stairs with murderous intent. "Oi, down here!", I shouted. He turned in time to see me just before the force wave from setting 4 slammed into him, bouncing him off the wall and then back toward me and over the railing. "Young lady, get to Leene Square! Or two streets down, to the right, there's a blue police call box where you'll find shelter."

"Who... who are you?", she asked.

"I'm the Doctor, now _go!_ "

I went back out into the streets, moving across the town square to the other side of town. After our first few encounters the Porre soldiers started giving me a wide berth. In fact, they started running. And given the people I was finding, the living and the dead... they were very wise to do so.

As I moved through this devastated town I felt cold rage building up inside of me. Just five years ago, from their perspective, everything had been peaceful. Now, due to one being's need for revenge, everything they love was being destroyed.

It was about that time that I started wondering about that guilty party. He would not be an easy fight, but if he came under my power, the things I could do to him... oh so many horrible things. Things I would never properly do to any being, but which in my rage I was prepared to visit upon him for his atrocities here.

I pushed the cold rage out. I needed to help people. That was my purpose here. I'm the Doctor, that's what I _do_ ; help people. Heal them. Make them better. Revenge fantasies were not part of the promise of the Doctor's name. Justice was what was needed. I had lives to save.

I came to a house and found a couple of Porre soldiers coming out with their knapsacks stuffed with loot. "Put that down now!", I demanded.

They looked at me with scorn. One started reaching for his weapon. So without further ado I gave them a solid taste of Setting 4. I picked up the knapsacks and noted, darkly, that one's sword was bloody. I carried the ill-gotten gains inside of the home they'd just left and set them on the table to my left, past the living area. I noted the makeup of the house and.... oh my. _This_ house.

And then I saw the only person inside of it. The woman was early in her middle age, her hair a light brown hue. Light blue, grayish eyes looked up at me through a haze of pain, which was completely understandable given the blood oozing from her belly. I ran the sonic screwdriver over it. Damage to both intestines, oi. Gut wounds were always quite nasty to deal with. "Who... are you?", she asked.

"I'm the Doctor, and I'm here to help.... ah, what do we have here? Of course. A soft meowing came to my attention as I saw a single cat come up and start bumping its head up against the woman's free hand. I was not surprised. Had I the time I would have given the little feline a pat on the head. "Always good to have a cat around the house, ma'am. I'd hate to have to explain to your son how I let you bleed out, eh?" Especially since he was quite handy with a blade.

"Crono!", she called out. "He's... at the castle! They're attacking the castle!"

"I know, and I'll be heading there to sort them out shortly." I looked at the scan again. "If I move you it's just going to make the wound worst. Here, hold on." I took out the TARDIS remote and activated it. The TARDIS materialized around us. A few refugees were inside, huddling in a corner, while Katherine looked up from the monitor. "Doctor! Oh my God!"

"Get the medigel and the medical kit, _now_!", I shouted. I looked over and saw the cat rushing around, scared of his new environment. "Hey, settle down and I'll get you some nice milk," I said. I looked back to Crono's mother and took her hand. "Hold on. I'll have you up and about and doing chores again in no time, ma'am."

"Where am I?"

"You are inside my TARDIS. It would take a lot t explain and you must save your energy, but to suffice to say I am from another cosmos, another sixth dimensional locale you might say, and like your son I am a time traveler. And this is my time ship."

Katherine came running up with the medigel and pack. She helped me sterilize my hands and fit on sterile gloves and remained by my side while I worked to fix the wound. On her own Katherine applied the sufficient dose of medigel to keep Crono's mother - what was her name again? - stable and provided the anesthetic that would end what must have been a gruesome amount of pain. "I don't have time to let you flal unconscious, ma'am, I need to start now to save you. This is going to hurt."

She nodded, already in plenty of pain.

I used the medical tools to seal the intestinal wounds and the damaged blood vessels. I felt sweat on my forehead as I checked her vitals. They were getting too low. The internal wounds were too much for the medigel. I had to get her fixed up.

It took me several minutes even with the best technology of the Citadel, Starfleet, and Layom Station. Several agonizing, nail-biting minutes as her heart slowed and her organs nearly shut down, her body trying to preserve everything for her brain. At one point her heart nearly stopped and Katherine had to inject medigel again to keep her bio-electrics going.

By the time I was over my patient was sound asleep. The cat came up, mewled, and licked her face.

I took in a breath as I took off the bloodied gloves and threw them into a sterilizer pack. Sterile cloths wiped the blood that had gotten on my forearms.

"Okay, you and you..." I pointed to two Trucians. "You look healthy, I want you to carefully hold this lady so we can get her somewhere to recuperate. Katherine will show you to the library, set her in the couch and keep an eye on her! I've got to get to work on other things." I cursed myself for not having a stretcher or litter around. Another mundane item I should look into getting. Thankfully the wounds were fixed up enough that unless someone threw her around they would remain shut.

I checked the monitor while Katherine was gone, expanding the search parameters. Porre's sack of Truce was a disorganized mess, a raid gone out of control, and now the soldiers were panicking between militia resistance and, well, having a Time Lord running around and blasting them with a sonic disruptor. The Porre units involved were fleeing back to their army camp besieging the castle. For all intents and purposes, the sack of Truce was all over save for the burning.

"Everyone sit tight. We're heading to the castle for more survivors." _And so I can accomplish what I know I was brought here to do._ I put a hand softly against my TARDIS controls. "It was about time, wasn't it? Good on you for not forgetting, my girl."

By the time Katherine brought the other refugees back I had shifted the TARDIS to a quiet corner of Leene's Square. People were congregating around Nadia's Bell, medics and doctors treated the wounded, and over the monitor I saw far too many forms completely hidden by white sheets. I'd come too late to save them too....

But I was never going to be able to save everyone. That just wasn't possible here.

All of those dead, all for one man's bloody vengeance.

"Katherine," I said softly. "I need you to watch our patient. Just to be safe."

"Of course, Doctor," she answered. There were tears in her eyes. "I... I know we've seen so much in our travels, but to see all of these dead people, to see a war again, I..."

I reached over and brought her into a hug. "I know. We go out looking for the best in the universes and it seems that we're always seeing the worst too."

"Stop them, Doctor," she asked. "Please."

"I'll do what I can," I promised.

Katherine ended the hug and let me wipe the tears from her eyes. She turned and went straight up the stairs to the door leading on to the library.

I went to the TARDIS controls and began shifting her.

Next stop: Guardia Castle.

 

 

 

I stepped out of the TARDIS and looked around. It was the storage basement. Dead guard bodies were around me, alongside slain castle servants. The Porre forces had spared none, bullet wounds and sword wounds prominent on the dead. The stench of death was ghastly, urging me to move on.

Cold anger built up within me again as I brought out my sonic disruptor and went upstairs. The layout of the Castle was rather straight forward, although the limitations of continually updating an old castle meant that it was a twisting trip. I arrived at the front door to find a rear guard was securing the steps into the main hall. Bloodstains spoke of remains moved out of the way, to secure the entrance if anything. If I were in a more subtle mood I would have brought out the psychic paper and sent them off, pretending to be an officer of some sort.

But I wasn't in a subtle mood. I was bloody furious.

The sonic disruptor came up and I let them have it. Blast after blast knocked soldiers around. A few brought their guns up and fired, forcing me to stop long enough to deflect the shots. I brought the sonic screwdriver up in time to use a narrow sonic burst that blew out one soldier's ears as he tried to come at me with a sword. He fell, screaming, and I ignored him as I continued on to his fellows. "If you value your lives, drop your weapons and _run!_ ," i said coldly. "Run and _keep running!_ "

They got the message when a couple more of them took strong enough blasts to be smashed against the solid stone wall. Weapons went down as the Porre soldiers tripped over themselves to flee.

I suppose I'd been lucky. A prepared force would have overwhelmed me. But they weren't prepared. They thought they'd already won and weren't ready for someone to come out and start blasting them.

...and yes, I know, it wasn't very Doctor-like of me to just outright resort to physical force. The Doctor usually outthinks his enemies, he doesn't just blast them with a sonic disruptor. The real one doesn't even have this. I would later regret it and wonder why I'd attacked as I did. Especially when I saw one soldier against the wall, blood trickling down from where the impact had cracked his skull. He could die from that. Die at _my hands_.

Is the Doctor supposed to kill?

I came to save life. Not to end it.

But the cold rage in me wouldn't let me think that at the time. All of this death. All of this destruction. _For what?_ For the revenge of a self-important man who was party to the annihilation of his society?

Looking back, I sometimes wonder if this was the day I began the final downward spiral. If this day, these acts of violence, no matter how justified, prompted me to see it as acceptable. The problem was simple; nails that needed a hammer. And I was becoming the hammer.

Was this the day I began my ultimate path to becoming the Time Lord Triumphant?

Quite possibly so.

But the cold rage, spurred by all of the dead I'd seen, spurred me onward. I ascended the stairs, stepped over another dead figure in the uniform of Guardia, and went to the throne room door.

Inside I found them. Dalton, in his brown cape, his hair flowing, a snarl of hatred on his face and satisfied bloodlust in his remaining left eye. Crono was in a dress uniform of some sort, currently recovering against the wall. Marle was leaning against the throne, blood pouring down an injured left shoulder.

At Dalton's feet was her father, the thirty-third King of Guardia.

There was a sword sticking out of his back.

Blood erupted from his mouth. Dalton pulled the sword out. I could feel power brimming inside of it. Dark, terrible power. Of course. The Masemune, a sword of normally pure energy, now corrupted by Dalton's hatred and bloodlust. It was, after all, an artifact of his people, and in the hands of one of them their mental state could alter it.

" _Daddy!_ ", Marle wailed.

"Na...dia..." The old man coughed up more blood and tried to crawl back toward his wounded daughter.

"How does it feel," Dalton said to them, holding the bloodied sword up and pointing it toward Crono. "You cost me everything. My Kingdom. My future. My _immortality_. And now I'm taking everything from _you!_ By now my soldiers have destroyed everything you have ever loved." Dalton let out a crazed laugh. "I sent two of my nastiest men to your house, 'Hero'. By now your mother's just as dead as this old dodder...."

"Oh, I don't think so," I called out. "She's quite alright now, bit touch and go but... yes, quite all right."

Dalton looked toward me. "What are you talk... who are you?!"

"I'm the Doctor," I answered. "And if I were you, sir? I'd run and I wouldn't look back."

As I said that, I knew what I planned to do. I wasn't going to kill Dalton.

Oh no.

In the end, _I was going to make him wish I had._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our narrator faces down Dalton alongside Crono and Marle, and the end result will come down to one question: Will our narrator show him mercy?

My face had no emotion on it. I did not snarl, I did not grin, I did nothing. The anger was kept locked down.  
  
Dalton and Crono acted first. Dalton focused, summoning magic energy to unleash in my direction, and had to stop as Crono's blade nearly found his shoulder. He retreated back a step and brought up the red-tipped Masamune blade.  
  
I almost attacked as well. But I forced that impulse down. In the end, I was still here to save life, not to take it. If there was any chance of saving the King I had to take it. I went to where he had crawled up to his daughter. Green light flowed from her hands into him; cure magic, obviously. I ran the sonic screwdriver over him. If he was stable enough....  
  
I saw immediately he wasn't. His body was older and the wound had cut too much. Too much blood was lost. "There's nothing you can do for him," I murmured quietly.  
  
"If you're a Doctor, you can heal him!", Marle insisted.  
  
"He's too far gone," I answered. "The wounds are too much. I'm sorry..."  
  
Her cheeks rose and her eyes squinted in the way all Humans do when they're about to start crying.  
  
As the first sob came out I grabbed her shoulders, trying to avoid the gash on her left shoulder. "Listen to me! You haven't got time for that! Are there any others who got away from the killing?"  
  
"In... in our room," she sobbed, indicating the pathway going out of the east side of the throne room. "Some of the staff."  
  
"Go to them," I urged her. I will have an escape route in this room by the time you return."  
  
"But my father..."  
  
"...would want you to put your people first," I finished for her. "Now go."  
  
I checked back to see Crono was holding his own for the moment. I realized his magic was exhausted and all he had left was his sword.  
  
Dalton was not so hobbled. He broke out of a parry, wised away, and generated a string of energy balls that slammed into Crono's mid-section. He flew back toward the wall and struck it, briefly going to a knee. Dalton raised the Masamune and charged. Crono rolled away and brought his blade up, deflecting the follow-up swipe.  
  
With Dalton's attention so expertly kept, I took the moment to pull out the TARDIS control and summon it. King Guardia looked around in pained wonder as the TARDIS materialized around us. "What is this?"  
  
"My time ship," I answered as Katherine came up, medpac in hand. "Ah, Katherine, some painkillers please."  
  
She looked down at the grievously wounded man and back to me in confusion. "But Doctor, he's...." She let out a small gasp of realization.  
  
"Yes. I'm sorry."  
  
The dying king lifted a hand, prompting me to get on a knee so I could hear his weakening voice. "Save... my daughter. Please."  
  
"I intend to. I am sorry, Your Majesty, that I was too late for you." I stood and nodded to Katherine. "Ease his pain. He doesn't have long. And be on the look out for a young lady your age, she'll be needing her shoulder treated when she gets back with civilians." I checked the TARDIS controls to make sure the door was pointed toward the pathway up to Marle's bedrooom. I made a few setting changes in the process. At that I hefted the sonic disruptor. "And whatever you do, don't let the one-eyed man through."  
  
I received a nod of confirmation as my reply.  
  
I stepped back outside of the TARDIS in time to see Dalton fire off another spell in time to intercept a burst of energy from Crono's blade. The two forces met between them and canceled each other out. Dalton snarled and was stepping forward to swing his blade again when I struck him with a setting 4 blast that sent him flying into the wall. He recovered and shook his head. "I'll make you regret that." He sent a burst of magic at me that setting 42 absorbed, although not without difficulty. I stumbled backward from the absorbed force of the blast.  
  
Crono moved ahead and very nearly got him with a swipe. Dalton got his blade in the way in the nick of time, deflecting the blow with a visible spark as their energetic blades slid across each other. Before he could try to counter-attack I blasted him again. He hit the wall once more. As he stumbled back to his feet I could see that frustration and fear were building up inside him. I leveled the disruptor and switched to setting 21. Dalton screamed as the disruptor's waves brought him headaches.  
  
In retrospect, it proved a mistake.  
  
With a sudden burst of panic and anger, Dalton brought forth a burst of energy that simply exploded outwards. Crono and I were sent flying backward due to the blast, and from experience I can tell you it was enough power to disorientate. Even with Time Lord senses I was still gaining my wits when he advanced on me, sword raised. I barely rolled out of the way when the corrupted sword crashed into the stone I had just been standing on. A series of orange energy balls lashed out from Dalton's other hand and caught me before I could get the sonic disruptor up.  
  
It was like getting hit by miniature suns. Heat and energy washed over me, burning my skin and setting my suit on fire along my left flank and near my belly. I stumbled from the surge of pain and how it affected my equilibrium. Hitting the ground as I did at least helped to put out the flames on my suit, which I completed by rolling away from him... important because he brought his sword down again and was close enough that he cut the edge of my right arm, the tip of the blade just missing flesh while slicing through the fabric of both my jacket and my shirt.  
  
His next sword swipe was intercepted by Crono's blade, giving me time to finish rolling away. I brought the sonic disruptor up but had to hold off on firing; they were moving too quickly and I didn't want to hit the wrong man. I waited to see which of them would get the upper hand; Crono was clearly more tired, but Dalton was, for all his ferocity, an inferior swordsman, and he struggled with the heavier blade against the swipes and parries of the rainbow-glistening katana in Crono's hands.  
  
I looked back in time to see civilians pouring into the TARDIS' front door. Good, that was done at least.  
  
Losing at swordplay prompted Dalton to return to his magic, and in a way I had - silly me- completely forgotten about him doing. He levitated off the ground for a moment, giving him enough momentum to jump over Crono. He didn't bring his sword down, not yet. An iron orb coalesced from nothingness above him and came crashing down on Crono's right shoulder. I could hear the bone crack from where I was. With pain twisting his face the young man faltered, dropping to a knee and lowering his sword. I brought up the sonic disruptor to attack Dalton with it...  
  
But he turned first. I swiftly brought up setting 42 to deflect the energy blasts coming my way as I truly did not want to get set on fire again. The blasts hammered into he field again and again, driving me back until the last one found nothing but air, the result of a temporary drop of the shield due to overtaxing. The blast struck me near the ribs on my right side. Pain surged through my torso and into my heart and lung, damaging both. My legs came out from under me and I went down to my knees. I brought my left hand up to the burning fabric on my chest and patted the flames, burning the hand as I tried to put them out. I hadn't felt pain like that since I'd had Commander Shepard put a Carnifex to my chest and pull the trigger.  
  
For a brief moment, I wondered if this was going to be it. If this was the end for "me"... if I was going to regenerate here and now. How would Katherine take it? How would Harry and Nerys and Korra? And what would I become?  
  
As I tried to push the pain of my wounds out, I lost track of what was going on around me. The pain was terrible and I felt the hairs on my neck stand up as I waited and feared the pins and needles sensation of a regeneration.  
  
Soothing energy filled my side, driving away some of the pain. I was still wounded but not gravely so. I looked up into a pair of light green eyes reddened from tears and weary from the day's events..  
  
Ah. So that was what cure magic felt like.  
  
Marle still favored her left shoulder and what looked to be a bullet wound. "I don't have much energy left," she admitted. Given the weary look on her face and the way she was breathing, the day had pushed her to her limits. I looked over to see how the battle was faring....  
  
There was a sharp intake of breath from Marle and a sickening, wet sound. I looked to see the point of a crimson blade poking out of the side of her belly, staining her white tube top with blood. Dalton stood over her and pushed his foot to her back to pull the blade out, making a sucking sound in the process.  
  
" _No!_ "  
  
Crono slammed into Dalton before he could bring the blade back down. I could see his right arm was stiff and unresponsive; the battle was not going to go well for him.  
  
"Katherine! Katherine!" I lifted the wounded princess in my arms and carried her to the TARDIS entrance where Katherine appeared, holding the medical bag and a medigel dispenser. "Get her inside!" I waved the sonic over Marle's torso to get a medical reading. "Well, that's some luck. The sword missed her lung. Pump her full of medigel and regeneratives! And as soon as I get spike-hair over there in, I want you to pull the TARDIS activation lever."  
  
"Doctor?" Katherine stared at me. "What about you?"  
  
"Don't you worry about me, I'll take care of myself. Now go!"  
  
Katherine took her younger peer and brought her into the TARDIS, where a host of worried faces were ready to aid as much as they could to protect their princess. I turned about and found Crono barely standing. His face was contorted with pain and frustration as he tried to resist Dalton and his cursed blade.  
  
A quick glance of the sonic confirmed what I feared. His shoulder was broken and the wounds he'd suffered were sapping his vitality. As much as my right side still burned... I was the only one of us still possessing a fight. I brought up the sonic screwdriver and used a sonic burst on Dalton's ear. He cried out and fell back for the moment.  
  
Had Crono been in top shape the battle would have ended there. But he was so spent all he could do was fall back himself, gaining room against his opponent. That room let me pull off a blast of the sonic disruptor that sent Dalton flying into the nearest wall with an impressive smack. "Get in the TARDIS!", I shouted. "You're in no shape to keep fighting!"  
  
"I can finish him."  
  
"No you bloody well can't." I seized Crono by the shoulders and looked down at him. "Your wife is badly hurt. Your mother barely survived. _They need you_. Now _get in the TARDIS!_ "  
  
I didn't meant to sound too harsh. But I did. And it worked; Crono retreated at a brisk pace. Dalton was still recovering when he reached the TARDIS door. "You're not getting away from me!", Dalton screamed. With a wave of his hand another of those damnable iron spheres, this one even bigger, came crashing down on top of the TARDIS. I could hear the impact and looked back to see that aside from some scraping the girl had taken the hit. Crono got into the door.  
  
"Pull the lever, Katherine! Do it now!", I shouted in as the door closed.  
  
 _Do it, Katherine. Don't let me down_ , was my thought.  
  
And whatever her concerns for me, she knew to obey me in this instance. I trusted her to trust me.  
  
And I was rewarded when _VWORP VWORP VWORP_ came to my ears. The TARDIS dematerialized, bound for the grasslands outside of Melchior's abode on the other continent.  
  
Now, since I'd met them in 1021 local at a much earlier time in my travels, one could say I was pretty sure I would survive. They didn't seem to upset at seeing me, after all. But things can change. Time travel is a tricky devil even for a Time Lord. And since I'd programmed the TARDIS to take them to Opassa if I didn't resummon it within the hour, I knew that history would be intact anyway.  
  
I smirked. That would be something if I had to live in this world for the next 16 years to get back to my TARDIS the long way. I suppose a long retirement in El Nido would allow me some unwinding time. And all of the squid gut pasta I could eat.  
  
"You can't keep them from me," Dalton declared. "I'm not done with them yet."  
  
"All of this, because they tried to stop your people from destroying themselves?!", I demanded.  
  
"You weren't there!", Dalton shot back. "You didn't see Enhasa and Kajar fall into the sea! Our beautiful kingdom, our _immortal_ kingdom, ruined! Because of them!"  
  
"You're the bloody idiots who tried to tap a malicious power for your own pride!"  
  
"Now they know how it feels," Dalton continued, ignoring me. "They saw their homes burn. They saw their kingdom destroyed! And don't thin k it's over. It's only a matter of time before I find them."  
  
"Really, Dalton? How long will it take?" I shook my head and laughed. "And what are the odds you'll be able to beat them? You used trickery and surprise to get to them when they weren't ready." I had figured this by the state of the castle interior; it hadn't been breached by siege, making it obvious that Dalton had infiltrated with forces by teleportation. "Do you really think Crono and Marle aren't ready for you anymore?" I shook my head as my cold rage conceded to my amusement. "You killed her father. You nearly killed his mother. No, the next time you face them, they'll be ready for you, and I'd wager you won't be the one walking away. Not from a straight fight." I smirked and help up the locket that acted as my TARDIS remote. "See this? This is the only way to bring them back here to finish it before they hunt you down and turn you into a smear on the wall."  
  
In his remaining eye I saw hatred and realization. He knew I was right. Given time to recover and to let their new grievance with him stew in their hearts? Crono and Marle would _destroy_ him. He knew that and he _hated it_.  
  
So I gave the finishing touch. "If you want them, Dalton... well, you'll just have to _catch me_."  
  
I took off running toward the opening of the throne room. Dalton hefted the Masamune and pursued, magic blasts pouring from his hand as I rolled through the door. Below me a reinforcement troop of Porre soldiers were waiting around for orders. I jumped on the rail of the stairway. "Going down!", I shouted, almost laughing as I slid down like a child might and jumped off. They'd noticed me just as I started. One gunshot went off and missed, and before the others could I landed on their leader and sent him flying. A single sweep of my sonic disruptor did the same to the rest, giving me room.  
  
Above and behind me, Dalton was pursuing, his cape fluttering around him as he levitated in mid-air. Forgot the bugger could do that.... More iron spheres and orange energy blasts lashed out at me. A silvery wave came at me and finally made impact just on my heels, throwing me off my feet and sending me forward. I rolled with it and continued to run toward the tower. Just as I got to the stairs a series of energy blasts behind me struck close enough to send me flying again. I slammed against the wall and I could feel my injured rib crack again, along with two of its neighboring ribs. I groaned as I forced myself to my feet and began clambering up the stairs, just in time to avoid another of those damned iron spheres. I ran as fast as I could go, taking advantage of the interior design which prevented him from using flight to pursue me. Every few steps I had to twist back and absorb or deflect a shot with setting 42.  
  
As I ran, I could smell smoke. Porre's troops were starting to set fire to the castle wherever they could.  
  
"I'm going to destroy you, you meddler!", Dalton screamed. "I'm going to rip your heart out!"  
  
I wondered if that was him talking or the Masamune, now that his rage had fully corrupted it. Oh well, trouble for another time... and for other people, I have to say.  
  
One blast went over my head and sent stone debris flying at me. One sharp fragment of rock struck my temple. A human would have been knocked out right there. I managed to go ahead despite the explosion of color and the killer bloody headache.  
  
Finally I reached the top. My right side burned from where he'd nailed me before and now my rubs and temple were other focal points for agony. I ran out onto the platform leading to the jail and kept going toward the opposite structure, the tower built into the temple that acted as Guardia's main prison. Dalton was chasing behind me and, with there no longer being cover, I had to time my jumps to avoid getting hit again. I held the sonic disruptor over my head and pointed backward to absorb what I could.  
  
So there I was, going into a dead end, wounded, with a maddened sorcerer after me wielding a cursed sword as the castle around us burned. As plans go, it doesn't seem like the best outcome, does it?  
  
If you think so... ha. Joke's on you!  
  
I had Dalton right where I wanted him.  
  
In his rage he kept sending magical attacks at me. Iron spheres slammed into the bridge behind and in front of me, forcing me to weave to avoid them. Energy blasts soared over my head or hit behind me, such that I could feel the heat from them. But I kept going, with my hearts pounding and my mind racing and my body burning and hurting...  
  
When I got to the other side I turned and brought the sonic disruptor up. Dalton was so focused on chasing me he didn't switch to defense in time and he took the full blast, throwing him back and further done the stone bridge. I stood my ground here, holding my disruptor up toward him, while Dalton slowly stood, looking a bit more winded than the last time I'd given him a good look. He laughed. "This is the best you could do, 'Doctor'? Letting me trap you? Who the hell do you think I am? I am Dalton, the right hand man of the great Queen Zeal herself! I am an Enlightened One! You and the others here are like ants to my greatness!"  
  
I smirked back at him. "Love to hear yourself talk, eh? Well, sir, maybe I should do an Enlightened One the favor of _enlightening you_ ," I countered. "Because if you think I'm a normal Human, the joke's on you. I am a _Time Lord_ , you insufferable, jumped up little _ape_. My species was ancient when yours huddled in caves in terror of the dark!" I shouted my boast with glee, feeling proud and alive as I did so. Who the hell did I think Dalton was? He was scum on my shoe, that's what the hell I thought he was. "You want to talk about traps, oh 'Enlightened One'? I know something about traps myself." Seeing he was attacking again, I brought up the sonic disruptor and used it to smack an iron sphere coming at me and sending it careening back into the bridge. "The first rule about traps, Dalton? If you want to survive, the one thing you should avoid, the thing you should never _ever_ do if you hope to walk away, is _put me in it_." He fired energy blasts at me and I caught them with Setting 42. This time the last of the orange spheres didn't break through. "And the second rule about traps. Oh ho ho, it's a good one." I smiled. "It's to make sure you're not walking into one yourself! Because the joke's on you, oh great and mighty Enlightened One! I'm not in your trap! _You're in mine!_ "  
  
Confusion broke through Dalton's anger a little. He let loose with one of the wind-like energy slashes. Silver energy rippled across the bridge. I was thrown back a bit by its impact on my setting 42 shield. But it was still too weak to bring it down and strike me directly. "Feeling a little spent, sir? A little under the weather? A little _winded_? Or should I say a little _drained_?"  
  
Dalton rasped and drew in a breath. Another iron sphere, much smaller than the usual ones, flew at me. I smacked it with the force shield at an angle that sent it crashing right at Dalton's feet, enough force behind it to literally cause it to embed in the stone pathway of the bridge. He looked down at it and back up at me.  
  
"You feel it, don't you? Teleporting all of those troops, using all of that combat magic, chasing me through the castle.... looks like you've got some endurance issues, eh? A little trouble going the distance, Dalton?" I laughed at him, enjoying the look of realization that came through the rage. "I bet you can't even do your floating and flying trick anymore." I gave my best Ten-like whistle. "Shame about that, 'cause it looks like you could use it right about now."  
  
Surprise now mixed with realization and anger in Dalton's face. He lowered his head just in time to see the real damage done to the bridge. Weakened by his attacks against me, suitably deflected back into the bridge, the ground under him was giving away.  
  
I said nothing else at that point. I brought up the sonic disruptor and set it to Setting 14. Maximum power. I call it the Good Vibrations mode.  
  
Or, well, not so good for Dalton.  
  
The disruptor's field effect sent vibrations through the weakened masonry beneath his feet, vibrations of such intensity that the weakened stone's structure shook apart under them. The ground gave way under Dalton's feet as a patch of the bridge about six feet in length gave out and fell down to the burning courtyard below. Dalton tried to scramble forward. Had he been in peak shape he might have succeeded. But he was exhausted. He wasn't fast enough. His feet fell below the level of the bridge and all he could do was grab on with his hands. in the process he let go of the Masamune, which clattered off the bridge and fell into the distance below. His fingers fit into the cracks in the stone enough to find some purchase, but it wasn't much. Eventually he'd scrape the skin right off his fingers and begin a very long drop.  
  
I walked up toward him as he looked at me, terror in control of his mind. "No, please!", he shouted. "Please pull me up!"  
  
"Oh?", I asked. "The high and mighty Enlightened One, right hand to Queen Zeal herself, begs me for help?"  
  
"I don't want to die!", he screamed. "I... I don't want to die! Please Doctor! Pull me up! I surrender!"  
  
I stared at him for a moment. The cold rage within me stirred as I looked out at the burning castle. From this height I could see the remnant smoke of sacked Truce as well. "You want me to save you." It wasn't a question. "After all of this horror? All of the death and destruction you've caused? The slaughter you've wrought? The good man you murdered and the daughter you left orphaned? And you want me to save you?"  
  
"Mercy Doctor! Please show mercy!"  
  
"Where you didn't?", I barked. "You, who showed no mercy, now plead for it?"  
  
" _Mercy!_ "  
  
I looked into his remaining eye, now filling with tears.  
  
And I had thoughts. Horrible ones. Terrible things. The blood of Guardia and Truce cried out for justice, and the justice I could grant was the kind to make a being's skin crawl. "Are you sure?", I asked.  
  
"i surrender! Please, mercy!" Dalton's left hand lost purchase on the stones, leaving behind blood streaks from where he'd torn his own flesh from his fingertips in trying to hold on. He managed to snag the last handhold with the left hand so that he wouldn't lose his grip with the right either. "Save me Doctor! Please show mercy! I don't want to die!"  
  
"Yes. You want to be _immortal_." I let the word hang. Immortality had its... downsides, after all.  
  
The dark thoughts swirled inside of me. I knelt down, as if ready to pick him up. "I came here on a mission of mercy," I explained, watching his right hand start to lose its grip on the stone. Blood was pooling from where the stone had stripped the skin from his fingers. Below us an explosion flowered; Porre's troops undoubtedly hard at work. I blinked and nodded. "Very well. I'll show mercy to you, Dalton."  
  
"Thank you! Thank y...."  
  
I stood to my full height, spun on my heel, and began walking away.  
  
I couldn't see Dalton now, but I could imagine it. His hand coming loose. No more handholds left... his right hand would fail and the change in balance would rip him from the left hand's hold too. And then he would fall. Desperation and terror filled his voice. " _Mercy! Please Doctor! You said you'd save me!_ "  
  
"No, I said I'd show you mercy." I turned back to see where he was desperately trying to keep his handhold, trying to avoid the finality of his death. "Dalton, with all of the things I could do to you... I could literally grant you immortality, I could make it where you never actually died... and you would wish I had left you to fall." I kept my facial expression still as I saw his handhold begin to fail. "Dalton, this _is_ mercy."  
  
" _No! NO! PLEASE! MERCY DOCTOR!_ " The handhold failed. " _MERCCCCCCYYYYYYY!_ ", Dalton screamed as he fell down through the bridge toward the fires and rubble below.  
  
I stood there for a moment. Through the growing smoke below I couldn't see where his body landed. I could imagine it though. A desperate, feeble mid-air attempt to summon enough magical power to float. And maybe, just for a moment, he would slow his descent. But it wouldn't be enough. from this height...  
  
Well, it was probably quick. Quicker than he deserved, yes. An impact and oblivion. No pain, like King Guardia had endured. Like Crono's mother would have endured, or the many other Trucians slaughtered here this day.  
  
But still.... it was the right thing to do. I pushed the cold rage out of my hearts. I couldn't listen to that. Better to be kind.  
  
Better to be merciful.  
  
With my mission of mercy complete, I held out the TARDIS remote and summoned my TARDIS back to me. It was time to leave.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our narrator's adventure in Guardia ends in another time (apropos of the cosmos he's in) and with some contemplation on mercy and on his identity.

After a quick check to make sure of Dalton's ultimate fate - yes, I am careful enough to make sure nothing opened a Gate under him or such - I flipped a few controls and shifted the TARDIS out. Katherine stood beside me with a disinfectant and soothing solution for the wound on my temple. "Hold still," she insisted.  
  
I did so and let her finish bandaging my forehead. Now that the rush was over my wounds were starting to pile up on me. "How is Marle?"  
  
"Who... oh, the young lady? She'll survive," Katherine said. "I disinfected and closed the wound. We are just about out of medigel, though."  
  
"Well, a quick stop to Thessia or the Citadel would be nice," I answered. "And Layom Station, to check up on Theresa and Hannah."  
  
"I do love Layom's star and the gardens," Katherine agreed. With the bandage complete she touched my hand. "What are we going to do with the people we rescued?"  
  
"History records their deaths," I answered. "I checked the records, it's the only way the numbers add up inside reasonable margins. So I think they'll be joining Crono and Marle in El Nido circa 1021. It's why I just shifted us there, in fact." A thought came to me and caused me to sigh. "King Guardia?"  
  
"He lived long enough to see I had stabilized Marle's condition," Katherine answered. "As painful deaths go his could have been worse."  
  
"That's good," I replied in a low voice. "Very good."  
  
"Doctor... the man who attacked them. What...."  
  
"He fell," I answered quietly.  
  
Katherine remained quiet for a moment. She could tell what happened. "I suppose it is for the best?"  
  
"Likely." I could still hear his screams in my ears. Pleading for mercy, not realizing that the fall was more mercy than I would have granted. "This was a very dark day, I'm sorry to say. Not quite the same as your last birthdays with me, eh?"  
  
"Well, no," she admitted. "But we did good, so it wasn't a waste."  
  
"No it wasn't." In my mind I replayed the day. And my reaction to it... that one was almost frightening. To feel that cold rage, remember all of the things I thought about inflicting upon Dalton when he was within my power....  
  
I felt Katherine's hands wrap around mine. She leaned against me. "You're a good man, Doctor. Whatever happened, you should remember that."  
  
I put a hand up and affectionately touched her head. "Thank you, my dear little Katherine." I reached over and flipped a switch. "Well, might as well refuel the TARDIS while I'm here. Let's go see to our guests."  
  
  
  
  
"What do you mean we can't go back?!"  
  
I said nothing. Best not to provoke the angry young twenty-something who could blast me with lightning if inclined, especially with his face a few inches from mine, and most of those inches vertical.  
  
"What I said, obviously." I looked over to where Marle and Crono's mother were laying on different couches. A couple of children rushed passed, chased by older siblings. "Listen, the Fall of Guardia was a Fixed Point in Time. Fixed Points are... they're the stitches, the staples, that hold the cloth stable. If you try to tear one out, the entire thing unravels. And then bad things happen. Very bad."  
  
"You can't be saying we have to let Porre get away with it!", Marle answered, still rather feisty despite the nasty sword wound from getting run through.  
  
"In this era you don't. But not back in your era. History says you didn't come out of Guardia Castle that day. Besides, if I took you back and you mucked with the history afterward, it'd undo Balthasar's hideously complicated plan to save Princess Schala, and that _would_ wreck this entire sixth dimensional cluster." I sighed and plopped into my recliner, the only vacant chair in the room. "Besides, it would undo my own time stream."  
  
"Your what?", Marle asked.  
  
"My timestream. My history, if you will. It's something you get when you move around time. The truth is, I'll met you again in a few weeks, here on Opassa Beach. Although that me will be a younger version. He's not been traveling long at all." Seeing their expressions I sighed. "Look, my time travel doesn't work like yours. It's not a point-to-point thing where the gates remain at fixed relative points to each other. I brought you here to weeks before the last time I got here."  
  
Crono and Marle looked at each other. I eyed them both. They would take time to heal their wounds, rushing back to an era when Porre would be watching for them like hawks just wasn't reasonable.  
  
"So... you're saying we'll meet you again later?", Crono asked.  
  
"Yes. That me will be younger. He has two Companions instead of one. And he's a bit of a sloppier dresser. And a bit strange, back then I thought I was originally Human. Long story." I raised a finger. "Don't tell him anything about me. If he asks, your answer should be 'spoilers'."  
  
"Wait." Crono blinked. "Wouldn't you already know what our future selves said to your younger self?"  
  
I "ehhhed" in reply. "It's... well... it's complicated, there are certain variables that can happen.... it's all very timey-wimey. Let's just stick with timey-wimey. Next to quantum it's my favorite phrase when trying to dumb down five-dimensional cross-timestream variables and the like."  
  
Oh, if only I knew back then...  
  
Marle lowered her eyes. "So this already happened. It can't change? We can't go back and change it?"  
  
"No," I said. "Not without severe consequences."  
  
Katherine stepped into the conversation at this point. "You will both need time to get better. Even with this... 'magic' you have, your bodies have taken too much punishment. Please, listen to the Doctor."  
  
"What about Lucca?", Crono asked. "We left her behind."  
  
"Yes, we did."  
  
"So I'm not..."  
  
"Why else do you think I went to Opassa in my past?", I asked. Seeing the looks come over their faces I nodded and grinned. "She'll be ten years older, but you will see Lucca again. I promise. You two literally walk up to the TARDIS door when I arrive with her."  
  
They looked at each other after I said that. "So we're all back together?", Marle asked. "In your past?"  
  
"Yes. All three of you."  
  
I think that helped seal the deal. I heard no more complaint from them on the subject. "Well, for starters, let's go over your cover plan one more time. You're all refugees from Zenan and..."  
  
  
  
  
Once everyone was out there was only one bit of business left. The people took to the job quietly and with grief, preparing the coffin to bear King Guardia away. "Lord Viper's a fair and honorable man," I said to Marle. "And he has his own issues with Porre. I'm quite certain he will find a suitable place to intern your father until he can be brought home."  
  
"This is as good a place as any to plan against Porre," Marle agreed. She looked back to the coffin as they prepared to seal it. With a wave of her hand the men working on it stopped, allowing her to step up to it. She was moving gingerly given the wound in her torso. "Goodbye Daddy," she said softly, leaning over and kissing his cheek. I remained silent, letting her say her goodbyes.  
  
Crono was at her side a moment later. They clasped hands and remained silent, looking at the fallen king. I kept silent as well. After a moment I looked up and over to where Katherine was at the door of the TARDIS, escorting several children. She smiled at me and I walked over to her. "That's all of them, Doctor," she said.  
  
"Good. Always tricky to have little ones in the TARDIS. They never want to leave." I smiled despite the complaint.  
  
"I talked with Marle for a while," Katherine said. "I'm betting she would once jumped at the chance to be in my place."  
  
"Oh, quite likely, but she got to have her adventures in time and space anyway." I admit the thought did amuse me.  
  
"It's not easy," Katherine said, looking at them as Marle broke down crying in her husband's arms. "I still think of my father all the time."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What about you, Doctor? Do you remember anything of your family?"  
  
"Not a thing," I breathed, the words a lamentation. "I'm not even sure what species I am. I used to think I was a Human turned into a Time Lord."  
  
"You did?"  
  
"Yes." I nodded. "I'm not sure why. I remember saying the words to the others. To Jan and Cami and Harry and... so many others. But now I don't know why I'd think such a thing. Rather silly idea, probably wishful thinking since I like Humans so much. No, I'm just an amnesiac Time Lord. Some... admirer of the Doctor's who's trying to live up to his legacy. Or...." A peculiar thought crossed my mind and made me laugh.  
  
"Doctor?" Katherine looked at me with curiosity.  
  
"What if I am actually the Doctor himself? To my knowledge he was on his last regeneration, what if..." I looked off into the twilight sky, admiring the beauty of the full moon coming out and the stars beyond. "....what if the Doctor got a new set of regenerations, but something went wrong with the first one and it made him into the form I had when I first woke up on that Sith station? What if it gave him amnesia? Or if it was a trap of some sort, some threat who laid a trap for him, a new set of regenerations that wiped his mind and changed his TARDIS, some plan to get him out of his own cosmos?" I shook my head. "For all I know that box in my head, all of those memories, are my memories of those lives. The knowledge I have of those lives aren't from second-hand knowledge, they're remnant memories...." I let the thought stew for a moment and shook my head. "On second thought, that theory has too many holes. Oh well, back to the drawing board."  
  
"Whether you're that original Doctor or not, you're still _my_ Doctor," Katherine said firmly.  
  
"And I always shall be," I promised her. We embraced. "Always."  
  
  
  
  
It was the next morning and everyone was ready to journey down the island's main road to Termina and Viper Manor. A day's healing had done good for Princess Marle, enough that she walked normally. Crono's arm was still in a slung from his broken shoulder, but he would heal soon enough and be back to top shape. "Thank you for everything, Doctor," Marle said, giving me a light hug.  
  
"Oh, that was nothing. Don't worry about it," I answered. I let her go on to hug Katherine while I gave a handshake to Crono. "Seriously, how much hair gel do you use, young man?"  
  
That won me a laugh. "If you ever need our help, just ask," he said.  
  
"Of course." At that point our conversation ended. Crono's a rather laconic fellow, indeed...  
  
The procession set off for Viper Manor with curious Arni fishermen already amongst them. I spied a head of blue hair under a bright, pinkish bandana amongst them, staring in some confusion at Crono and Marle. They turned to me and waved goodbye. Katherine and I waved back. "That's going to be quite the meeting," I murmured.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"That young lad in the pinkish bandana? He's quite the hero himself, although nobody remembers it. Curse of being the one to fix a dimensional split." I shifted and winced "And I need another soak. Why is it I'm always breaking ribs?"  
  
"Because, my Doctor, you love throwing yourself into harm's way." She cackled. "You can't help but be the hero, saving little princesses from big bad assassins."  
  
I laughed in reply. "Yes. A good thing I always save the right ones, eh? Come along, Katherine. A quick soak to soothe my aches and then I'm finally going to take you to Kraknardaaplikuiuspinralakoolis and the Kraknaradaaplikuiuspinocka Nebula."  
  
"What about the flower planet?"  
  
"Oh yes, that one..." We stepped into the TARDIS and I closed the door behind me. "Guotar first then. And then Kraknardaaplikuiuspinralakoolis."  
  
"How can you manage to say that?", she asked as I operated the controls.  
  
"Very, very carefully," I replied. I let out a laugh and pulled back on the activation lever. "Tally ho!"  
  



End file.
